SpiceJet to pay passengers for flight delays, cancellations

NEW DELHI: Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which is priding itself on its on-time performance after beating IndiGo at its own game for the first two months of this year, announced an On-Time Guarantee scheme for its passengers on Monday.

As part of the scheme, which will be effective from May 6, passengers on a flight with a delay of more than 60 minutes will be given Rs 500 vouchers for their next travel while travellers on flights which are cancelled or delayed by over 120 minutes will be given a voucher of Rs 1,000.

But there's a catch: the guarantee applies only on flights being delayed due to reasons which are under the control of the airline. Therefore, weather related or airport congestion related delays will not be covered under the scheme. "We have delivered a significant improvement in our OTP over the last few months," said Kaneswaran Avili, chief commercial officer of SpiceJet, in a statement.

"This scheme is our way of ensuring our customers that we will continue to deliver our On Time Performance. We are not just saying it, but guaranteeing that we will not delay our flight." Redemption of vouchers can be made on SpiceJet's website and as soon as the flight is delayed or cancelled, a passenger will receive a message and mail indicating the voucher details and the redemption process.

In December 2013, SpiceJet had 82.2% of its flights on time, 79.5% of its flights were on time in January 2014 and 79.7% of its flights were on time in February 2014. On Monday, SpiceJet's shares closed 1.68% lower on the BSE at Rs 14.60.